Gust Announces Lilie no Atelier!

After having released remakes of the first two Atelier games for the Game Boy and PC, Gust has finally unveiled the third Alchemist of Salburg game -- after Marie no Atelier and Elie no Atelier, the new game is Lilie no Atelier: Salburg no Renkinjutsushi 3 (Lilie's Atelier: The Alchemist of Salburg 3). This new installment takes place about 30 years before Marie no Atelier's time; the main character is Lilie, a 17-year old Alchemist. While Marie and Elie's goals were to graduate from the Academy, Lilie is aiming to found that Academy, which does not exist yet in this time. She will have to collect funds by selling her items in the annual fair, helping the village people, etc. If she gets more funds than needed, she will even be able to customize the Academy to her own tastes.

While doing her own Alchemy research and fund collecting, Lilie will also have to teach two 10-year old pupils, Ingrid and Hermina... Ingrid? Hermina? Yes, these two are definitely the professors from Marie no Atelier and Elie no Atelier, only in their formative years! Just like Elie no Atelier had a number of characters from Marie, you should expect to see some familiar faces in this new installement, only 30 years younger. Dornie, the Academy's dean in Marie, now appears in his forties as Lilie's supervisor.

Of course, the Item making is still an important part of the game; just like in Marie and Elie, Lilie will be able to make items in the alchemy Atelier (workshop), and will have to fulfill villagers' item commissions by getting the necessary compounds and recipes for her items. The workshop now has a second floor you can access, which contains Lilie's room. Another notable change is the fact that you can now actually walk in the streets of Salburg rather than choosing your destination on a map; the streets are in the same quarter view that the inside of the buildings use. If you do well, you will be able to attend the building of the Academy during the game!

Lilie no Atelier is scheduled to appear on the PlayStation 2, some time in Summer 2001, and a stateside release is quite unlikely at the time. Lilie no Atelier will, of course, feature full-voiced characters, although the casting has not been unveiled yet. The game's character designer is once again Isaemon Yamagata, who had worked on Elie no Atelier (Marie's was Kouhime Ouse, who later worked on Eternal Eyes). Now, you may head to our pictures section to check out 8 screen shots and 9 pieces of artwork from the game, along with an animated GIF showing the Academy being built!